Synthesis and lewis acidity of fluorinated triaryl borates

Abstract

A series of fluorinated triaryl borates B(OAr^F)₃ (Ar^F = 2-FC₆H₄, 3-FC₆H₄, 4-FC₆H₄, 2,4-F₂C₆H₃, 3,5-F₂C₆H₃, 2,3,4-F₃C₆H₂, 2,4,6-F₃C₆H₂, 3,4,5-F₃C₆H₂) have been prepared and isolated from the reactions of the mono-, di-, or tri-fluorophenol with BCl₃. The Lewis acidity of these borates has been determined by NMR spectroscopic and theoretical methods and compared to their well-established borane counterpart.